Section 23 of IGST explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 23 of the IGST Act, 2017 empowers the Board (the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, CBIC), on the recommendations of the GST Council, to make regulations — consistent with the Act and the rules made under it — to carry out the provisions of the Act. Regulations are a second, more detailed tier of subordinate legislation that sits below the rules made under Section 22.
What Section 23 Says — In Plain English
The section provides that the Board may, by notification, make regulations consistent with the IGST Act and the rules made under it to carry out the provisions of the Act. In plain English: after Parliament passes the Act and the Government makes the rules, the CBIC can add a finer layer of detailed regulations to make the machinery work day-to-day — but only within the four corners of what the Act and the rules already allow.
Whereas rules under Section 22 are made by the Central Government, regulations under Section 23 are made by the Board (CBIC). Regulations typically deal with finer administrative and procedural matters that support the framework set out in the Act and the rules. A regulation cannot be inconsistent with either the parent Act or the rules; if there is any conflict, the Act and the rules prevail. This hierarchy — Act, then rules, then regulations — keeps the subordinate instruments within the boundaries fixed by the legislature and the Government.
Clause / Sub-section Breakdown
- Regulation-making power: The Board (CBIC), on the GST Council's recommendation, may by notification make regulations to carry out the provisions of the Act.
- Consistency requirement: Regulations must be consistent with both the IGST Act and the rules made under Section 22.
- Subordinate rank: A regulation conflicting with the Act or the rules is invalid to the extent of the conflict.
- Parliamentary oversight: Regulations are laid before Parliament under Section 24.
Applicability & Scope
Section 23 applies whenever the CBIC frames regulations under the IGST Act to operationalise detailed procedural aspects. Like Section 22, it functions at the administrative level rather than imposing direct obligations on individual taxpayers, but any regulation issued draws its authority from this section and must remain consistent with the Act and the rules. It sits at the lowest tier of the GST legislative structure.
The three-tier structure — Act, then rules, then regulations — is a deliberate hierarchy of decreasing scope and increasing detail, and each tier is made by a different authority: Parliament, the Central Government, and the CBIC respectively. This layering allows the most detailed, technical or fast-changing operational content to be settled by the specialist tax administration (the Board) without either Parliament or the Government having to legislate every minor procedural point. But the price of that flexibility is subordination: a regulation lives entirely within the space left open by the Act and the rules, and cannot expand, contradict or override either. If a rule and a regulation conflict, the rule wins; if the Act and a regulation conflict, the Act wins. This ensures that however granular the regulatory detail becomes, the overarching legislative choices remain those of Parliament and the Government, with the Council's recommendation feeding into each tier of subordinate instrument.
Worked Examples
Example 1 — Filling in operational detail. Suppose the rules made under Section 22 lay down that a particular refund application must be filed in a prescribed manner, but leave the finer operational details — such as the exact documentary checklist or a field-level processing workflow — to be settled administratively. On the GST Council's recommendation, the CBIC may issue a regulation under Section 23 filling in those details, provided the regulation does not contradict the Act or the rules.
Example 2 — Regulation cannot override a rule. Suppose a rule under Section 22 fixes a time limit for a procedural step. A regulation that attempted to shorten or override that time limit would be invalid to that extent, because regulations must be consistent with the rules — the rule prevails.
| Instrument | Made by | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Act | Parliament | Primary legislation |
| Rules | Central Government | Section 22 |
| Regulations | Board (CBIC) | Section 23 (consistent with Act and rules) |
Step-by-Step in Practice
- The GST Council recommends the regulation.
- The CBIC frames the regulation to carry out a provision of the Act.
- The CBIC checks the regulation for consistency with the Act and the rules.
- The regulation is issued by notification.
- The regulation is laid before Parliament under Section 24.
Common Mistakes & Practical Notes
- Treating a regulation as able to override a rule — it cannot; the rule prevails on conflict.
- Confusing the maker — rules come from the Central Government (Section 22), regulations from the CBIC (Section 23).
- Assuming regulations bind despite conflicting with the Act — they are invalid to the extent of any inconsistency.
- Overlooking that regulations, like rules, must be laid before Parliament under Section 24.
- Expecting regulations to create new substantive obligations beyond the Act and rules — they only operationalise within those limits.
Related Sections
Section 22 of the IGST Act (power to make rules), Section 24 of the IGST Act (laying before Parliament), Section 25 (removal of difficulties) and Section 165 of the CGST Act (the corresponding power to make regulations under the CGST Act).
Recent Amendments & Context
Section 23 is a stable framework provision and has not been substantively amended. In practice, the bulk of GST's operational detail has been delivered through rules under Section 22 (and the CGST equivalent, Section 164) rather than through standalone regulations, so Section 23 is used more sparingly. Its lasting importance is structural: it fixes the CBIC firmly at the bottom of the Act–rules–regulations hierarchy, ensuring that any detailed regulatory instrument the Board issues remains subordinate to, and consistent with, both Parliament's Act and the Government's rules, and remains answerable to Parliament through the laying requirement in Section 24.
For taxpayers and advisers, the practical significance of knowing this hierarchy is interpretive. When a dispute turns on the validity of a subordinate instrument, the first question is which tier it belongs to and whether it stays within the bounds of the tier above. A regulation cannot cure a gap in the Act, and cannot rescue a rule that was itself beyond the rule-making power. Conversely, a genuine regulation properly issued within the confines of the Act and the rules carries statutory force and binds those it governs. Because most operative GST content sits in the rules, Section 23 is more often cited in support of the structural argument — that the CBIC's administrative instruments are subordinate legislation and must respect the Act and rules — than as the direct source of a contested obligation. That structural clarity is its enduring contribution to the GST framework.